The Asia Pacific Orchid conference was initiated in 1984. One of the founding members is professor Rapee Sagarik ( He is known to be the Father of Thailand Orchid Industry).

It aims to achieve an international cooperation for trends in development and conservation of orchids in Asia Pacific region. The 1st conference started in 1984 in Japan and has been held in different countries rotated among member countries in APOC community every three years.

In 1992, Thailand hosted the 4th conference which was organized in Chiang Mai,
where Maejo University took the main responsibility hosting the event. In 2010, Professor Rapee Sagarik, an ornamental plant advisor of the department of agriculture, foresaw particularly benefit for being the host of the conference.

The department of Agriculture then submitted a project to the Thailand Ministry of agriculture and cooperation and Asia Pacific Orchid Committee. The committee has recognized the potential of Orchid Thailand and therefore agreed that Thailand will host the 12th Asia Pacific Orchid Conference (APOC) from March 19th-27th, 2016.